Thursday, October 19, 2017

A home theater lets
you enjoy entertainment in ways that weren't possible just a few years ago.
Instead of the hassle and stress of going to the movies — paying for parking,
movie tickets and outrageous drinks and snacks — the movies come right to you.
Short of making it totally stress free by having a professional installation
service like Just One Touch doing it for you, putting together a great home
theater only takes a bit of planning and patience. Here's the 5 great things
that you need to have a great home theater:

GREAT, BIG
HIGH-RESOLUTION PICTURE

The attraction of a movie theater is that it has a
big screen with a bright, colorful and highly detailed image. That's even more
true of a home theater today, with 55, 65 and 70" and up TV screens
readily available. But just as in the movie theater, these big screen TVs also
feature high-resolution screens — 4K resolution to be precise. This means that
every detail stands out, even as deep blacks combine with billions of colors to
form a lifelike picture you can't tear your eyes away from. And it's right
there in your home for watching anytime.

GREAT SOUND

What the
movies theater's once had a lock on — superb, high quality audio — is now
available for the home theater. You can place multiple speakers throughout the
room, use a sound bar that integrates amplification and internal speakers
(including a wireless subwoofer) or employ the sound system built into TVs
which have been specially prepared for a great audio experience. Regardless,
the sound will now envelop and surround everyone watching. Dolby Digital
Surround, DTS, Dolby Atmos, all the latest audio technologies are available to
ensure that the sound being heard is what the filmmaker intended. And that
includes an emphasis on home viewing so it's being designed by those putting
the sound together with you in mind.

GREAT CONTENT

Having
movies and TV shows to watch has never been easier because of the huge
assortment that is available. There are 4K Blu-ray Players that spin 4K movie
discs to give you absolute control over what you are going to watch and when
(and let you pause for bathroom breaks even). These movies not only feature the
highest resolution now possible for home viewing (4K), but add the latest
high-resolution surround sound formats too. And for those with faster Internet
connections, streaming 4K movies and TV shows becomes another option to chooses
from. And all from the comfort of your home.

GREAT SEATING

You
can't enjoy what's being watched if you're uncomfortable. so take the time to
make sure the seating will be good for all those watching — whether just for a
couple of minutes or hours. Home theater seating is available and recommended,
especially as it's designed to look as good as it feels. Getting professional
recommendations will ensure that watching becomes something to look forward to
(a professional installer like Just One Touch can even take care of fitting it
into your home theater for you).

A GREAT TIME FOR ALL

It's important to eliminate the distractions that interrupt viewing. So just as
in a movie theater, smartphones should be turned off and the only screen being
looked at should be the TV. Keeping everyone's attention on the TV screen will
aid in making viewing a more immersive experience too.

A great home theater
does more than just entertain; it can bring everyone together and make spending
time with friends and family even better. And a lot more fun too.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Few go to a
movie theater to sit in the back row. Even though there's a large screen, the
idea is to get as close as is possible in order to have an
"immersive" experience. Because it's all about seeing only the screen
and watching now what's playing on it. The same should be true with the TV that
you have for watching at home -- regardless of its size. You should be able to
be close enough to have your field of vision impacted so as to enjoy what's on
without distractions. But while you can easily change rows in a movie theater,
at home it's not as simple as just sitting as close as you can to the TV,
because sitting at the proper distance will make the image look as good as you
expect it to.

One basic
consideration that must be taken into account first is the most obvious: get
the largest TV that you can since the size can't be changed once it’s been
taken home. And making that TV a 4K HDR TV will make the “home theater
experience” even closer to the "movie theater experience.” So here's some
suggestions as to what to look for in order to find the optimal viewing
distance and angle for your TV.

VIEWING
DISTANCE/FIELD OF VISION

Start by
considering your field of vision (the entire area that you can see with the
eyes fixed in one position) relative to the TV screen. THX, the George Lucas
company which developed the high-fidelity audio/video reproduction standards
for movie theaters and others (and even more importantly, home theater), and
the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) offer
recommendations about this; 40 degrees in the case of THX and 30 degrees in the
case of SMPTE when it comes to how many degrees of your field of vision should be
taken up when watching a 4K TV.

One way to
do this is to multiply the seating distance by .6 to find a TV size close to
the 30 degree viewing angle (using .84 instead will get you close to the 40
degree angle). So for example, a 60” 4K HDR TV will haveseating distance of about 5 - 7 feet 10
inches, or 7 feet- 11 feet for a 70” 4K
HDR TV.

ANGLE OF
VIEW

Angle of
view refers to the off angle axis when moving away from 0 degrees on axis in
front of the TV — in other words, you’re not seated right in front of the TV
staring dead on at it. Moving away from the front of the TV, for example going
from the couch facing it to a chair nearby, will see decreasing image quality
due to contrast and black levels becoming more “washed out.” While the problems
of angle of view have become much less pronounced due to the advent of 4K TVs,
avoiding such an issue is still the best recourse. So if there are a lot of
people watching the TV, say in a large living room, then the TVhaving a wide viewing angle is needed. Obviously
this is not the case when there's just 1 or 2 people watching "dead on.”

One
solution is that, rather than trying to adjust the TV to the chairs, couches,
etc. — adjust the position of the furniture that people will be using to watch
the TV relative to the TV itself. The only other step needed is to first walk
around the front of the TV, once it has been put into position in your living
room, home theater, bedroom, etc. and see foryourself what viewing angles are good and what are bad. Then proceed
accordingly.

USE AN
ONLINE CALCULATOR

There are a
number of online calculators that purport to tell you how far away from the TV
you should sit. The calculators have you entering in such information as the
size of the TV (if it is already in position) or even the distance (when
placement of the TV has yet to occur). Here's one to try: https://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/tv-viewing-distance-calculator/

A large TV
screen becomes your gateway to a world of entertainment and having 4K
resolution means smaller pixels making up the image — and so you can sit closer
without seeing those pixels for a more immersive viewing experience. Finding
the proper viewing distance and angle for your TV might take some time and
effort, both of which can be obviated should you go with a professionalinstallation service, such as Just One Touch.
Regardless, it will be worth it because once your TV has been optimized to your
viewing experience, you can just sit back and enjoy watching.